Formation of N-nitrosamines from seconday animes and nitrite by resting cells of Escherichia coli B.

In the presence of resting cells of Escherichia coli B, the formation of N-nitrosamines from nitrite and secondary amines, such as dimethylamine and piperidine, was proportional to the incubation time and to the cell concentration. Optimum pH was 8.0. Boiled cells were incapable of nitrosating secondary amines. Although these experiments were carried out by using intact cells of E. coli B, the reaction followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the apparent Km values calculated from Lineweaver-Burk plots were 0.12 +/- 0.03 M for dimethylamine and 0.07 +/- 0.02 M for nitrite. The apparent Km for piperidine was 0.15 +/- 0.05 M. The nitrosation was inhibited by high substrate concentrations. These results suggested that the formation of n-nitrosamines by resting cells of E. coli B apparently depends on their enzyme activities.